My father passed away in December 07, his (3rd) wife was not on his deed as he owned it before he married her 15 years ago. She forged his name on the quit claim, back dated it to Nov of 2006 and filed it May 2008. The notary notarized my father's signature supposedly, and it was witnessed by 2 people. However, the notary did not have his notary public until Feb 2007. My father told me on his death bed that she was not on the deed and he wanted me to get $100,000. There was no will. Do I have any recourse? Can she do this and me not have any claim on the house?

MMgirl, FL

My father passed away in December 07, his (3rd) wife was not on his deed as he owned it before he married her 15 years ago. She forged his name on the quit claim, back dated it to Nov of 2006 and filed it May 2008. The notary notarized my father's signature supposedly, and it was witnessed by 2 people. However, the notary did not have his notary public until Feb 2007. My father told me on his death bed that she was not on the deed and he wanted me to get $100,000. There was no will. Do I have any recourse? Can she do this and me not have any claim on the house?

MMgirl, FL


The Deed will stand unless you can PROVE the forged signature. I don't understand why people witnessed the signature on the Deed - "normally" it's simply notarized but it does give you four people who would have committed fraud - stepmother, 2 witnesses, notary as opposed to just your stepmother and the notary.

I would have to look at NY law but in NYS if the notary is not in good standing that does NOT invalidate the document. Lots of case law, lots of arguments, lots of Court fights - but that decision has stood for years. Are you positive the notary was not sworn in until that date? Obviously the intent of the forgery plays a part. If you are someone who believes the person is a notary and finds out later he/she is not, you have no problems.

Oftentimes a notary passes the exam and the paperwork but it takes time to get the actual seal. Easy enough to check on that.

When your father said he wanted you to have $100,000 was he referring to other property or a portion of the real estate - ?

You would have to charge your stepmother with fraud if you want to set the Deed aside. With a 15 year marriage in place she does have rights to inherit and your father had - apparently - 15 years to write a Will or place your name on the Deed.

If the Court gets involved they will be interested in the total value of the estate and the timing here.

More importantly, straight from the Florida Law webpage: "The Florida constitution prohibits the head of a family from leaving his or her residence to anyone other than a spouse or minor child if either is alive." Question is what constitutes head of family under Florida law.

I am a notary myself and I have checked on this. He definitely was not a notary until Feb 2007. I have a copy of my father's signature and it does not match up with the signature on the dded. How do I go about proving that? I believe there is intent to forge because she has forged his name on another mortgage document that was for her mother. He thought the mortgage was in her name only but I looked on line and she put his name on it as well.

He should have done the will the right way, no doubt. I understand that she has rights to the hosue and I never had a problem with that. I just don't like that she forged this quit claim to get the house.

You will have to file suit in the court of general jurisdiction in the state in which this property is located to have the deed set aside; and here is the appropriate situation in which to file a notice of lis pendens, which lots of folks ask about.

Thank you very much!

Just curious: does your father have other children?

No.

Forgery is a criminal offense. Go to your local prosecutor and swear out a warrant against her. The prosecutor can then submit the deed to a handwriting expert to determine if it was his signature or not.

Thank you. I did read where in the State of Florida what she did was a third degree felony. I live in a different county about 200 miles away. Can I get in touch with the DA down there or do I have to go through the police?

I would go direct to the DA

Thank you for your advice. I appreciate it. By the way I used to live on LI, how is it today?

If this was me, I would hire an attorney, and let him handle the fraud case ( law suit) and also have them contact the DA for you,

Now you have a issue, if you prove fraud it will help your case, but without a will, the wife wlll still inherit according to state law, so she would get a part of the estate according to their state law since there was no will.

So it is possible that she would have gotten the house anyway, depending on many factors. His wishes if not on a will is not binding

I have no problem with her getting what she should but I don't like that she committed fraud and is trying to cut me out all together.

I am a notary myself and I have checked on this. He definately was not a notary until Feb 2007. I have a copy of my father's signature and it does not match up with the signature on the dded. How do I go about proving that? I believe there is intent to forge because she has forged his name on another mortgage document that was for her mother. He thought the mortgage was in her name only but I looked on line and she put his name on it as well.

He should have done the will the right way, no doubt. I understand that she has rights to the hosue and I never had a problem with that. I just don't like that she forged this quit claim to get the house.


You hire a handwriting expert, someone who has and does testify and is recognized by the Court. The Court should be able to recommend someone.

I would be very careful about filing a criminal charge until you have proof that this is a forgery.

I did handwriting analysis having taken 2 years in college for this at the New School in NYC many years ago (not forensically though) and if you have a lot of your dad's handwriting samples and his signature over the years on different documents this will help whoever you retain to do the handwriting analysis. Having the full signature over a period of years is very helpful as our signatures tend to change some as we get older. Cancelled checks for say the last 5 years would be excellent. Also if you have HER signature and handwriting samples that would be more than helpful to the expert as well. He/she would be able to "pick" out the nuances of her forged signature much easier even if she tried to disguise it was her.